April 2023 | Tales from the Jungle
April was a busy month in the South Caribbean of Costa Rica; we have updates about Luna, an exciting new auction, bridges, camera trap footage, and more!
Luna’s recovery
After a successful surgery to fix her broken arm, Luna is now undergoing rehabilitation. There is still a long way to go before she can be reintroduced back into her habitat. Still, Luna has already taken the first steps – or, more appropriately, the first ‘branches.’
Watch this video to learn more about Luna’s rehabilitation:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CXFaQnPrRow
New Auction!
Would you like to own this beautiful piece of watercolor art portraying Mango?
We just started a new auction! Artist Kate Cliffe made this gorgeous art piece, and all the proceeds from the auction will go toward funding our projects.
Data analysis
Our Ecology Coordinator and sloth scientist Amelia Symeou monitored sloths for the Urban Sloth Project for the first years of the project. She is now analyzing parts of the data at the Swansea Lab for Animal Movement at Swansea University.
Each DailyDiary backpack has collected around 27 million data points, so analyzing each data set will take some time. This complex task requires understanding how to use software specifically designed to read the DailyDiaries and statistical software to understand the significance of the data.
The weird image above shows the activity of one of our sloths, Cacao. The significant drop on the graphic shows a fall from a 15 m (49 ft) tree! As we previously explained, sloths, thankfully, are adapted to survive this.
Save Sloths, Save the Earth
On Saturday 22nd, we celebrated Earth Day with a fundraiser for a Wildlife Reserve we are helping to create in the South Caribbean.
We raised over $2000 and want to thank everyone who donated to this project! You can still help us ensure this forest’s protection for $5 the square meter!
Project Updates!
This month we funded the sterilization of 10 new rescued dogs, planted 75 trees, and installed 11 new Sloth Crossings! In this Video, Francisco explains why it is necessary to connect the canopy and provide safe aerial passages to sloths:
Sloth Crossings for Monkeys too!
We also installed our first double-rope bridge! These are useful for the three species of monkeys in this area. All monkeys have prehensile or semi-prehensile tails, meaning they use them as a fifth limb. This type of bridge provides better stability to monkeys, giving them more confidence to utilize the bridges, especially for babies and juveniles. Let’s hope we can get footage of monkeys using it soon!
Mother’s Day is around the corner!
In a couple of weeks, the US celebrates mothers and motherhood in all its shapes and expressions. If you don’t have a gift idea yet, don’t worry. Our Sloth Adoption Packs and Sloth-themed gifts are the perfect option for this date!
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I hope you have a great April and enjoyed this update from the Jungle. May awaits around the corner, and with it, the peak of the dry season here means more heat, more sunlight, and more opportunities to carry on our work to help sloths in the wild. Thank You for reading, and see you next month!
All the best from the jungle,
Dr. Rebecca Cliffe
Founder and Executive Director
